PLAYER OF THE GAME: Seattle's outside shooters were on target, and the shots were made easy because of Vin Baker. The power forward forced double teams while continuing his torrid shooting with 20 points (9 for 14). Baker also had seven rebounds and four assists.

TOP RESERVE: Desmond Mason has officially ended his scoring doldrums. For the second straight game, Mason resembled the player he was most compared to when Seattle drafted him in 2000: Dallas' Michael Finley. Mason had 16 points (on 6-for-8 shooting), four rebounds, three steals and one block.

KEY TO THE GAME: Nate McMillan loves to talk defense. The Sonics were fine in that category but it was their club-record 66.1 percent shooting (including 61.5 percent on three-pointers) that led to yesterday's upset victory.

NEXT: Tomorrow, 4 p.m. vs. Hornets at Charlotte Coliseum.

For most of the season, Nate McMillan has juggled his reserves depending on matchups, a player's recent performance, sometimes on a whim.

But with the season approaching its halfway mark, the Sonics coach intends to firm up his rotation to seven or eight, which will leave out most of the younger players.

Seattle's starters are Gary Payton, Brent Barry, Rashard Lewis, Vin Baker and Art Long. The reserves expected to form part of McMillan's rotation are Desmond Mason and Shammond Williams.

Vladimir Radmanovic and Jerome James will also be in the regular rotation, depending on matchups. James will receive minutes if Seattle needs a big man, while Radmanovic gets the nod when Seattle faces a smaller team or benefits from outside shooting.

"Our younger guys have really done a good job in stepping in when we've had injuries," McMillan said. "But Desmond, Rashard, Gary, Brent, Vin, (Williams) are guys who have been here and who know exactly what we want. We'll give those guys the minutes, and we'll fill in with our young guys when we need to."

McMillan believes that most of the rookies are tiring because they are not used to so many games in a season. It's the main reason that Williams' minutes are likely to increase while Earl Watson's declines.

After Williams suffered an injury early in the season, Watson's strong defense earned him the backup spot to Payton.

Predrag Drobnjak is the other player likely to be left out the loop. The rookie big man hasn't been shooting well, which is his strength. And his tepid rebounding doesn't help the Sonics, who are among the worst in the league in that area.

"It's time to shorten the rotation that we can be comfortable with," McMillan said.

Walker's mom turns 87

Wally Walker was in town yesterday, but it wasn't because of his team's game against the 76ers. The Sonics president flew halfway across the country to celebrate the 87th birthday of his mother, Rachel, on Sunday.

Walker was joined by his two brothers: Bob, a former Congressman in the 16th district of Pennsylvania; and Sam, a historian at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Walker family grew up in Millersville, a tiny town about a 90-minute drive away, where Mrs. Walker was a teacher before becoming a full-time mom.

Notes

? During the fourth quarter yesterday, Allen Iverson became the eighth player in Philadelphia history to score at least 10,000 career points. Iverson finished with 38 points on 14-for-25 shooting.

? Philadelphia forward Derrick Coleman missed his third straight game with left foot inflammation.